HEALTH: Health Line

Dark chocolate lowers clot risks

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that dark chocolate may help reduce risks of forming blood clots. They claim a bit of dark chocolate each day thins the blood, similar to the way aspirin works.

When conducting the study, the researchers compared blood platelet clotting formation between chocoholics and those who did not eat chocolate for an extended period of time.
The chocoholics’ platelets averaged 130 seconds to form a clot, while the non-chocoholics averaged 123 seconds for clot formation.

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com

Migraines linked to greater heart risk

A recent study of middle-aged men who suffered migraine headaches found them to be 42 percent more likely to have a heart attack than nonsufferers.

Experts from the American Heart Association believe the relationship has to do with blood vessels in the head. A migraine constricts the blood vessels, causing the headache sensation. As a side effect, blood flow — and thus oxygen supply to the heart — is limited, possibly causing a heart attack.

Source: WebMD.com

Heart repairs itself

Scientists at University College London observed that cells in the heart’s outermost layer can repair failing organs.

Using a protein called thymosin B4, the scientists stimulated mice hearts to grow new blood vessels from heart progenitor cells, the cells present on the outermost layer of the heart.

The research team thinks that if the cells could be precisely directed with the protein, regeneration therapy would be possible in the near future. The breakthrough could simplify surgical procedures concerning the heart.